Felix Frankfurter

“ Respondents say, however, that decisions of policy in the construction of power projects have been entrusted to the Commission, or at most also to the Secretary of the Army, under whom the Corps of Engineers performs its statutory functions of making surveys and constructing public works, and that the interests of petitioners arise only after a public project has been constructed and the Secretary of the Army has determined that there is excess power to be distributed and sold. ”

“ From the time that the importance of power sites was brought to public and congressional consciousness during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, the significant development has been the devising of a general power policy instead of ad hoc action by Congress, with all the difficulties and dangers of local pressures and logrolling to which such action gave rise. ”

“ Concretely it means that Congress has adopted a basic policy for the systematic development of a river basin. Decision is made on such questions as the locations of projects, the purposes they are to serve, their approximate size and the desirable order of construction; because of the necessary interrelationship of many technical engineering and economic features of the several dams in a single river basin, early choice among possible alternatives is imperative. ”

“ For, at any time short of the fifty years in which a site automatically becomes available to the Government without compensation, the Government may determine that the public interest makes it more desirable that the project be operated publicly and has the right then, by appropriate steps, to take over the project. ”

“ Not only is the specific provision as to the Roanoke Basin to control over the general, but that which is adopted and authorized is not 'the following plans' but 'the following works of improvement,' which patently refers to such projects as Buggs Island and Philpott, rather than to all sites named in a comprehensive plan. This answers that part of petitioners' argument which relies on the language of § 10 speaking of prosecution of the projects 'under the direction of the Secretary of War' when 'budgetary requirements' permit. ”

“ If power can be developed as an incident, or if reclamation can be provided, they are cared for in the bill.' 90 Cong.Rec. 4199; cf. id., at 4202. In the light of this history and these specific declarations, it strains belief that 'approval' of the comprehensive plan for the Roanoke Basin reserves all projects named in the plan for federal construction when the two projects that provided the chief flood-control features of the plan were the only ones specifically authorized. ”

“ We hold that petitioners have standing. Differences of view, however, preclude a single opinion of the Court as to both petitioners. It would not further clarification of this complicated specialty of federal jurisdiction, the solution of whose problems is in any event more or less determined by the specific circumstances of individual situations, to set out the divergent grounds in support of standing in these cases. ”

“ These enactments expressed general policies and granted board administrative and investigative power, making the Commission the permanent disinterested expert agency of Congress to carry out these policies. Cf. 41 Stat. 1065, as amended, 49 Stat. 839, 16 U.S.C. § 797, 16 U.S.C.A. § 797; 3 Rep.Pres. Water Resources Policy Comm'n 501 (1950) .
A principal responsibility of the Commission has always been that of determining whether private construction is consistent with the public interest. See, e.g., S.Rep. No. 180, 66th Cong., 1st Sess. 3. ”

“ See the Veto Messages of Presidents Roosevelt and Taft, e.g., 36 Cong.Rec. 3071 (Muscle Shoals, Ala., 1903) ; 42 Cong.Rec. 4698 (Rainy River, 1908) ; H.R.Doc. No. 1350, 60th Cong., 2d Sess. (James River, 1909) ; H.R.Doc. No. 899, 62d Cong., 2d Sess. (White River, 1912) ; S.Doc. No. ”